“We quit our jobs, remortgaged our houses” – how passion made Cuphead a reality
gamesradar.com
gamesradar.com
Anybody with that kind of starting position could retire early. Most folks don't have that kind of starting position.
Of course, there are plenty of folks who inherit a house, make $200k+, and still do not manage to have the discipline to do what he's done (reduce expenses, etc). But... yes, he's had lucky breaks and situations not everyone will have. To the extent he helps encourage people to reduce expenses and get a handle on their finances, it's useful, imo, but yeah, knowing how he got started can help keep a perspective on the advice.
That's what you need as an indie developer. A lot of publicity and great art. It doesn't matter that you essentially reproduce the exact same recipe as any other Nintendo platformer, as long as you have great art and music, people will love your content.
Similar to hollywood movies being a rehash of each other with different actors and a different setting. It's all about the human condition.
So yeah, in the rare case of Cuphead, they will do well. Maybe enough to make the next one, if they didn't over-extend themselves.
For most small indies though, I can tell you first hand, it's tough. Especially since the whole Hello Games and No Man Sky's debacle, every 'gamer' out there is out to hate indie by default. We're scammers in sheep clothing.
Oh how I wish that were true, it would make for such an easy formula to follow to commercial success! :)
The visual style is definitely unique, and will get them a lot of media attention. Good for them! But translating that into sales - that's not easy at all...
that's a bit of an over exaggeration. Gamers hate overhyped, but under delivered games. It doesn't matter if it's indie or not.
To some degree this is the result of the formulaic, hollywoodesque way how AAA games are being made, and the over-stated excitement about even small developments which indie games feature in terms of gameplay and storytelling.
On the other hand, there is also a significant hipster-ish culture around some games where "overhyped" really describes it. The documentation of attitude and lifestyle of the people who write and who play those games seems to be more important than the games themselves. This is similar to instagramming your own cooking all the time and instagramming your fashionable hip meals all the time.
Maybe I'm just missing that part of the community, but that seems over the top. Pre-orders and crowdfunding, now those got a relatively widespread bad rep, and some people dislike themes primarily covered by indie games, but I don't see very many people care about general "indieness" of the developer.
Passion is a fantastic asset but a lot of these people confuse it with stupidity.
Oh please, stop with the scare mentality.
Even if things go badly they are still educated, hard working people and would have no problem at all getting an entry level position in one day flat and living modestly for a decade or so.
They're not going to live in cardboard boxes.
Not the case in every country.
It's still essentially setting your career back by 5-10 years... that's a significant downside. And given that it's by far the most likely outcome, it's foolish to discount it.
This industry has a huge problem with survivorship bias. We keep encouraging people to burn themselves out doing startups that usually fail. Some cold reality is necessary, IMHO. By all means chase your dreams, but have a backup plan and don't bet anything you can't afford to lose.
You bet, I'm driving around Africa right now! :)
this is me http://theroadchoseme.com
This debt can prevent sending kids to college, and being able to purchase a home. Many of these are historically considered attainable by the middle class.
It is not so clear whether it is always a good idea to go this route, considering other options. The survivorship bias is strong in this space and it needs to be taken into account.
Maybe not, but I've seen quite a few indies with massive debt, and who are struggling with depression & anxiety as a result, and that's huge pressure on their family. Which makes keeping the family together an added anxiety, and then it's a vicious cycle. [It echoes the Phil Fish line from Indie Game: The Movie about wanting to kill himself.]
Burning yourself out on making a game (or a startup, or anything) is not worth that. Family and general happiness is so important. Keep things in scope so that if the lottery ticket doesn't work out, you've still got things to fall back on.
I.e. about 1/5 of your adult life. That's a huge setback, and I'd say a serious and irreparable damage to one's life.
I take GPs comment to be a sincere hope that things work out for them.
To recoup $600k and then make another $600k in net profit (to be able to finance the next game, remember valve's 30% fee & taxes) will require it to basically be a huge hit in indie-terms.
A positive outcome does not equal a wise choice.
Cuphead is a bizarre and wonderful experiment in one way, and a classic genre piece in another. Yeah, you do have to try something different to stand out in indie games and this team is delivering. I've not been more excited for a title in years.
The resemblance to the cartoons of the era is uncanny. I really hope Disney doesn't sue them or something. Hopefully they're on rock-solid legal footing. In a just world all those copyrights would be ancient and long expired, but hey—Mickey Mouse is still Disney's IP until 2023, and they'll probably figure out something to keep it going past that.
...which is actually pretty cool.
Cool site though. Didn't know it existed.